Gender Transformative Education Curriculum Breaks Taboos of Sexual and Reproductive Rights
Oxfam Columbia
Columbia has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in the world. 1 out of 5 girls in the age of 15-19 years old has been or is pregnant. In the province of la Guajira, 22 % of all registered pregnancies are teenage pregnancies and most of these are amongst the indigenous people, Wayuu. This results in a high dropout rate among young Wayuu girls as they are pregnant or have become mothers and thus cannot keep up with their education. They are thereby deprived of their possibility to create a better future for themselves and their children. With the education material produced, Oxfam Columbia and the local partner, Fuerza Mujeres Wayuu, target these issues by creating awareness and education on sexual and reproductive health and rights that is relevant for the Indigenous community, thus changing gender norms.
The Wayuu people is the biggest group of Indigenous people living in Colombia and the vast majority lives in poverty with lacking access to social services such as decent education, social protection, health clinics and medical assistance. The high rate of teenage pregnancies is caused by inadequate sex education, limited access to contraception as well as sexual assaults amongst others. Furthermore, it is generally perceived as a taboo to talk about sex and sexual rights among the Wayuu people.
The curriculum attempts to change this by focusing on the knowledge and empowerment of learners, and, by taking the Wayuu people’s cosmos vision, cultures, and traditions as a point of departure, to respect and gain the support of the local communities.
The curriculum developed by this project targets children and young people in the age 6-10 years and 11-14 years, and is supported by didactical material such as games, pedagogical guidelines, and the like. It was developed based on inputs from workshops with a team of teachers from six education centers. The process included discussions and analyses of the Wayuu peoples’ traditions and cultural norms and practices related to puberty, sexuality and reproduction – compared with universal human rights. The material furthermore deals with gender, discrimination, and the right to autonomy over one’s own body. Central to the curriculum is the notion of EISALAJAA AKÜA ́IPAA, ”the care of the being” in Wayunaiki. It refers to the caretaking of spirit, soul, and body – all of which are important elements for the Wayuu people as it implies selfcare and collective care that respects rights and duties.
According to the teachers in the project, the process has been enriching and pioneering. They perceive it as a huge improvement that they are now capable of making young people aware of their rights and thus support their resistance to violence and assaults. Thus, they can help initiate change in society through the schools and by gaining support from the local community. The roll-out of the curriculum is still in progress due to COVID-19 related lockdowns, but so far, it has been well received by the local communities.
An important point to highlight in this regard, is that gender transformative education curricula are never one-size-fits all solutions but must be customized to – and in close dialogue with – the people and context it targets. If this is done with sensitivity and attention, the transformative power of curricula, not only for students but for whole societies, is immense.
Learn more about Fuerza Mujeres Wayuu here.